When Legends Were Born: Year 3
by Mistylight
Summary: Messrs Moony, Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs would like to invite you into the Marauder years; when legends were born. Welcome to Year 3. WIP. I HAVE ADOPTED THIS STORY FROM CATCHING CRAZINESS. YEARS 1 AND 2 CAN BE FOUND ON HER PROFILE.
1. Chapter 1

**I would like everyone to know that I, Mistylight, do not own anything from this AN forward to Chapter 7. All the rest is written by me, but the aforementioned parts were written by CatchingCraziness, who also wrote Years 1 and 2. I will have an AN at the start of Chapter 8 to remind you. If you have any compliments for earlier chapters, send them directly to CatchingCraziness.**

**Disclaimer: I can only wish I owned this. Everything from the Harry Potter world belongs to J.. This Disclaimer counts for every chapter.**

Remus (Moony)

_Sirius (Padfoot)_

Peter (Wormtail)

**James (Prongs)**

Welcome to Year 3! This year will be written by yours truly.

**Isn't this the year we're all in different subjects?**

_That it is, Prongs._

Does that mean we behave this year?

**Behave? Never!**

_I thought that you were the smart one Moony!_

Well, I'm sorry.

So you should be.

**For thinking such Un-Marauderish thoughts, we should prank you.**

If you prank me, I'll tell Lily what we're doing.

_That's a low blow!_

I don't think he cares, Padfoot.

Somebody just start writing. Please.

**Not a chance.**

Wormtail, please help me out here.

And risk being pranked? No way.

_It seems that Wormtail is the smart one._

That's it; I'm going to get Lily.

**NO!**

Start writing then.

_Go Wormtail, before he tattles!_

**A/N: If you like my Marauder stories, I have recently posted up another story called Bitten in the Moonlight which in a Non-Canon version of the Marauders Seventh Year, for more details check out my profile.**

**Please review. :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 1: Counting Down**

Peter's POV

The holidays once again found me packing my trunk with all the books I'd need that year at Hogwarts. The day before, I'd gone to Diagon Alley and bought the school books and extra potion ingredients.

Luckily, I was going back to Hogwarts for my Third year just the next day. I was excited to see my friends again; the Marauders, and just get out of the Muggle world.

I'd been writing letters all summer to the rest of the Marauders, but it wasn't the same as actually talking to them face to face. I knew Sirius would be staying with James again because he hated his own family, and I knew Remus, like me, would be counting down the days until we were back at Hogwarts.

Thinking about Remus, I remembered the letters Sirius and James had sent me. We all wanted to find a way to help Remus over full moons. James and Sirius had searched their family libraries and were bringing all the books they'd found with them. They'd asked Remus to do the same.

Since both of my parents were Muggles, I didn't have any extra information that would help anyone. Though once we were all at school again we were going to have to read all the books they'd found, so maybe it wasn't a bad thing that I didn't have any other books to add; I knew how much Sirius and James hated reading.

My holidays had been spent in my house replying to letters and trying to study. I knew I didn't have very high marks in school, and I knew the other Marauders always had to help me, which they hated doing.

For my Third year though, we got to choose extra subjects, so I'd gone with the subjects I thought would be easiest and I wouldn't need a lot of help with: Muggle Studies, and Divination.

Remus had chosen Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, and Care of Magical Creatures, the only one of us to choose more than two extra lessons. James choose Care of Magical Creatures and Divination, and Sirius had chosen the same subjects as me; Divination for an easy pass, and Muggle Studies to annoy his parents.

I took last years' books out of my trunk, finding all sorts of junk from broken quills to an old pair of James's glasses. Shrugging, I threw most of the junk back into the trunk under my new books where I knew it would probably stay.

Once everything was packed and I'd found my wand again – I was always losing things – I dragged my trunk downstairs so it would be ready in the morning.

**Any compliments can be sent to Catching Craziness**


	3. Chapter 3

**This chapter was written by Catching Craziness**

**Chapter 2: Useless Classes**

Peter's POV

As usual, I was the last one out of our group to get on the train, which meant Remus, Sirius, and James had already found a compartment and were there to help me load my trunk up.

"What did you do this summer then?" James asked, he was leaning against the window and absently shuffling a pack of cards.

"Nothing really," I shrugged. "Just some studying. What about you lot?"

"I went to a Quidditch game," James beamed. "Ballycastle Bats against Pride of Portree, it was a really good game, lots of fouls too. But other than that I didn't really do anything."

"Charming," Sirius muttered dryly, he was lounging on the seat next to James and giving him a half-hearted glare.

"Oh yeah, sorry," James said, looking anything but. "Sirius here came to stay for the last two weeks of the holidays."

"Too right I did!" Sirius exclaimed, snatching the pack of cards from James. "I had to escape my family some how. They're even worse now Regulus is in Slytherin, I was willing to do anything to escape, even spend a couple of weeks with you."

James scowled at him, taking the cards back and beginning to split them into four piles.

"I stayed in my room and revised," Remus smiled. "I think I'm prepared until after Christmas now."

"But moving on to better things," James grinned. "Everyone grab a pile and let's play."

We passed the time until the train stopped playing Exploding Snap. When we were getting into the carriages, we got a few funny looks because of our burnt clothing and singed hair, but most people were too used to our antics by then to care.

"Is it just me, or do the First years get shorter every year?" James asked, eying the new students that were being sorted.

"Technically we're the ones getting taller," Remus pointed out, clapping politely as a girl was sorted into our house.

"I don't care if they're shorter or not," Sirius groaned. "I just wish they'd hurry up and start the feast."

"Couldn't agree with you more," I muttered, glaring at the empty plates in front of us.

"And now I believe it's time to start the feast," Dumbledore announced cheerfully.

The once empty plates filled and I began to pile food onto my plate immediately. As we ate we talked about our chosen subjects. Remus was the only one of us not to choose Divination as one of his options which he admitted while blushing was only because the teapots used in the class were made of silver.

Once we were uncomfortably stuffed, we sleepily followed our prefects to the Gryffindor tower. After exploring the castle under James's Invisibility Cloak we knew several short cuts that would have got us to the tower quicker, but they were useless since none of us knew the password.

Climbing straight into bed, I sighed in happiness; I loved being at Hogwarts. My parents were very open minded about my studies in the Wizarding world, but they couldn't truly understand.

The next morning was as hectic as usual; Remus woke us all up on his way out, shouting something about waiting for us in the Common Room before disappearing out of the door.

By the time we were ready and in the Common Room, Remus was talking to Lily Evans; a pretty muggle-born witch who'd managed to catch James's heart after a dare gone wrong, something she was less than pleased about. She took one look at James, who was sweeping a hand through his messy hair and grinning at her, and told Remus she'd see him in Ancient Runes, shooting a parting glare at us as she left the Common Room with Alice Prewett and Steven Clark; our old room mate.

"Divination first," I commented at the Gryffindor table once McGonagall had handed out our time tables. "That ought to be interesting."

"I have Ancient Runes," Remus said, examining his schedule. "Then we have Charms together."

"Let's go predict the future," Sirius grinned, standing up from the table and dragging James and I with him. "See ya Remus!"

Remus snickered at our startled look as we were forced out of the Great Hall before meeting up with Lily to go to Ancient Runes. After a quick scuffle to get Sirius to release us, we climbed up the stairs leading to the Divination room, which turned out to be a trapdoor on the roof.

The room was stuffy and warm and as we settled into our seats at the back of the room in was tempted to just close my eyes and sleep. Professor Walkers was a strange sort of witch; she wore all black and seemed to delight in predicting vicious deaths for all the students, or at the very least a grave injury.

Ten minuets into the class we began a game of snap with our packs of tarot cards and made sure to predict an injury for each other every time Professor Walkers walked by to see how we were doing.

By the end of class Sirius and James had foreseen me dying in a Muggle car crash, drowning in the Black Lake, eaten by unicorns in the Forbidden Forest and hit by a bludger on the head. Our teacher was disturbingly pleased by that news.

"Looks like I was right not to choose that lesson then," Remus laughed when we sat next to him in Charms and told him about out Divination lesson.

"Indeed," Sirius sniffed in an arrogant manner. "You don't possess the Inner Eye like we do."

"My 'Inner Eye' says we should start our research in Divination since we have nothing better to do," James commented.

"Sleep's something better to do," I muttered half-heartedly. "Did you two find any books? Because I didn't."

"Books for what?" Remus asked, reminding us that we'd forgotten to tell him about our research.

"We're looking for ways to help you on a full moon," Sirius told him in a whisper after checking to see if anyone was listening.

"I think if there was someone would have told me already," Remus sighed. "But thanks anyway."

Knowing they wouldn't let it drop no matter what he said, Remus got his Charms book out and we followed suit just as Professor Flitwick came bouncing into the room happily and told us to take out our wands for a practical lesson.

**Any compliments for this chapter can be sent to CatchingCraziness**


	4. Chapter 4

**Again, this chapter was written by CatchingCraziness**

**Chapter 3: Finding Knowledge**

Peter's POV

I was a lot more observant than people gave me credit for, so the next morning when Lily Evans and Steven Clark walked into the Great Hall holding hands and then sat next to each other I knew straight away that they were going out.

Not knowing whether or not I should inform the other Marauders, I decided not to say anything; mostly because I knew it would mean planning a prank on Steven, one of our enemies, for daring to take away James's 'girl' and I had a Charms essay to do that night.

"I still don't understand," I complained to Remus.

Sirius and James were in the library looking for books on werewolves in the Restricted Section under James's Invisibility Cloak and I'd been told to keep Remus occupied since he was convinced that we were wasting our time and we knew he wouldn't approve of us sneaking into the Restricted Section.

This, however, meant that I asked Remus for help with my Charms essay when in truth I'd already finished it before asking and for once I understood the lesson. Remus was still teaching me calmly, even though he'd already simplified the lesson so much that a toddler would understand and I was still complaining that I didn't understand.

"I don't know how else to explain," Remus groaned, putting his head down on the table. "Maybe you should ask someone else."

"It's okay, I think I understand enough to do the essay," I smiled at him as he breathed out a sigh of relief. "Can you help me with the Transfiguration lesson?"

Just then, much to Remus's relief, James and Sirius walked into the Common Room grinning wildly. I guessed that they'd found something to help Remus on a full moon, but I didn't say anything in front of him just in case they wanted to keep it secret.

"Sirius! James!" Remus exclaimed happily, jumping up from his seat and waving them over. "Thank Merlin you're back!"

In his enthusiasm, Remus caught James in a hug and began explaining that he didn't know how boring Charms was if it was repeated more than ten times to the same person.

"You still struggling, Pete?" James asked with a twinkle in his eye.

James and Sirius of course knew that I'd already finished my essay and that I'd planned to pretend I hadn't to Remus.

"I just can't understand it," I lied with a straight face as Remus begged James for help with his eyes.

Sirius sniggered and dragged Remus away from James. "Why don't you go relax and talk about Ancient Runes or some sort of educational rubbish with Evans while James and I help Peter?"

Without any hesitation, Remus grabbed his books and practically ran over to Evans where she was sat with Alice Prewett and Frank Longbottom. I noticed that Frank and Alice were sat a bit closer than normal but they didn't seem to be going out yet.

"So, did you find anything?" I demanded as soon as I was sure Remus couldn't hear us.

"Yeah, but we'll tell you in the dorm," James muttered, glancing around the room. "C'mon."

He led the way to the dorm and once we were all sat on Sirius's bed, Sirius pulled a book out from under his robes with a dramatic flourish.

"_Becoming the Inner Animal: Animagi Magic_," I read the title of the book out loud. "What's an Animagi?"

"It's when a wizard or witch can transform into an animal whenever they want, but it's really difficult to do the first time," James explained.

"Not to mention that if we did it we'd be breaking the law," Sirius added with a grin.

"The law!" I chocked. "Are you sure this is the only way we can help Remus? How would it even help?"

"Werewolves aren't dangerous to animals, in fact it's been known that animals can help calm a werewolf down," Sirius told me. "But any animal put in with a werewolf would be terrified and it would be cruel to the animal."

"However, if we became animals we could help Remus and stop him from hurting himself," James finished proudly.

I thought about it for a second and knew that they were right, it was a great way to help Remus and it did sound like it would be a fun thing to be able to do.

"But I'm no good at normal Transfiguration," I sighed. "I'll never be able to do a spell this advanced."

"We'll help you," James promised. "And anyway it's not just a spell, there's a potion we have to take to find out our 'Inner Animal' and then another potion so that our bodies won't just turn back to human and then finally the spell."

"You're not reassuring me at all," I informed him with a groan.

"We can do it," Sirius declared, clapping me on the back. "For Remus."

"For Remus," James and I echoed, both of us wishing we had Sirius's optimism.

"Are we going to tell him what we're doing?" I asked, knowing that if we did he'd try and forbid us from doing it.

"Um, I think it would be best to tell him after we've already done it," James mumbled guiltily.

"We could surprise him on the full moon," Sirius decided. "That way it would be too late for him to stop us."

James and Sirius began writing down everything they needed for the first potion and then started planning the best ways of getting everything and where they could brew it since Remus would see it if they did it in the dorm room.

Eventually though, I warned them that Remus was coming up the stairs, so they hid the book in Sirius's trunk and pulled out a Charms book.

I claimed that I'd finally finished my essay and then presented it to Remus, he was pleased with how it had turned out and luckily he didn't notice that the ink had been dry for some time.

The next day Remus informed Professor Flitwick that he pitied the man for his job and that he didn't think he could ever be a teacher, much to the Professor's confusion and our amusement.


	5. Chapter 5

**Like every chapter before this, tcwwbcc (this chapter was written by CatchingCraziness)**

**Chapter 4: Back In Trouble**

Peter's POV

"Um…James?" Remus prodded him hesitantly while James tried to wake up properly over his bowl of cereal. "How serious were you about going out with Lily?"

James seemed to miraculously wake up when Lily was mentioned, but then what Remus had said clicked and he narrowed his eyes.

"I was serious," James told him suspiciously.

"No you weren't," Sirius grinned cheerily. "I am, was, and always will be!"

"Why?" James asked, ignoring Sirius's interruption as if he'd never said anything.

"Just because she and Steven seem to be closer than usual," Remus pointed further down the Gryffindor table, slowly shifting away from James.

We all spun around to look and James scowled; Steven and Lily were happily holding hands under the table and were sat close together. Across from them Alice and Frank were talking together, occasionally joined by either Steven or Lily.

"I can't believe this!" James exclaimed. "Does he not realize that Lily and I belong together?!"

"She obviously doesn't think so," I pointed out, wincing when he hit me around the head. "I was just saying."

"We better go to Potions," Remus stood up, picking up his bag and looking at us expectantly.

"Not a chance," Sirius snorted. "We need today to plan how to prank Clark."

"I second that!" James laughed, throwing an arm around Sirius's shoulders.

"I third it!" I piped up.

"Do I have a choice?" Remus asked dryly.

"Nope," Sirius popped the 'P'. "You're out-voted."

"Lucky me," Remus muttered, following us back to the dorm.

"Lighten up, Remus," Sirius smiled, lounging across his bed once we reached the dorm and flinging his school books onto the floor. "Missing one day of classes won't hurt you."

"I know, but I already miss a few days every month because of the moon," Remus pointed out, moving Sirius's legs so that he could sit down next to him.

James lay down on his stomach on the bed across from Sirius's, which just happened to be his own. "Yeah, but we always take notes for you and you catch up quickly."

"Plus, this is important," I said happily, sitting cross-legged next to James. "Us Marauders have to stand up for each other."

"Fine, fine," Remus exclaimed. "I get the idea. What's the plan then?"

"I was imagining lots of fireworks, some sheep and piles of grass," James told us, his eyes glazing over as he thought of his plan.

Sirius snickered and began writing down the ideas James told us. It didn't take any of us very long to get into the pranking spirit, and soon we were throwing around different plans and editing plans so that we could decide on which to use.

In the end we each came up with a prank, helped each other to perfect them and then to decide who's we'd use we had a mini prank war that James won.

"Brilliant! Sirius and I will go get some sheep," James grinned manically. "Pete can be in charge of finding the grass and fireworks, and Remus can start enchanting everything."

Eventually, everything was set up and ready by the time the evening meal rolled around. We had – much to my disgust – missed lunch because of all the preparation that had been needed for James's prank, but if the prank worked then I supposed it would be worth it.

"I can't believe we missed a whole day of classes," Remus groaned as he took a seat in the Great Hall. "At this rate I'll have the worst attendance record in Hogwarts history."

"I know," James said smugly. "Won't it be great?"

"James and I will, of course, have the record for the most detentions," Sirius added cheerfully.

"What will I have?" I asked curiously, trying to think of anything I could be remembered for.

"The worst marks possible," Sirius snorted, choking when Remus hit him around the head. "I was only kidding!"

Before they could begin arguing, James signalled that Clark had just walked into the Hall and sat down; which meant that the prank would be activated soon. Remus and Sirius got their wands out and pointed them at the ceiling from under the table while I pointed mine at the door and James put his Invisibility Cloak on and snuck out of the Hall.

"Three," Sirius count down.

"Two," Remus whispered.

"One," I continued.

"Now!" We said together casting our spells at the same time.

My spell hit the Great Hall doors so that they glowed a pale yellow and alerted James. Sirius and Remus's combined spells caused a pile of grass to fall on top of Clark, but before he could ask what was going on, fourteen sheep ran into the Hall and headed straight for him; invisibly herded into the Hall by James.

Quickly, before the teachers could realize he was missing, James climbed back into his seat and took of his Cloak. The sheep crowded around Clark to eat the grass, ignoring all attempts from the embarressed student to get them to leave.

The grass had been enchanted so that the sheep would want to eat it until it was all gone and they wouldn't disappear until all the grass was gone. Another part of the prank was the fact that because the sheep were surrounding him, Clark couldn't get out of the grass until the sheep were done.

The teachers tried in vain to get rid of the sheep and grass while the rest of the students laughed. The only student not laughing was Lily. Instead of laughing she was glaring at us and muttering things under her breath as she fiddled with her wand threateningly.

Once the sheep had finished the grass they disappeared in a 'poof' of green smoke that dyed Clark's skin and hair a Slytherin green. At the same time a giant firework exploded in the air, creating a big sparkly sheep and, after a second, it opened its mouth and burped out a deep 'baa'.

"Detention," McGonagall sighed as she came up to us. "You four just can't seem to stay out of trouble can you?"

"You don't have any proof that it was us!" Sirius protested, waving his arms wildly.

McGonagall raised her eyebrows. "Was it?"

"Well, yes," Sirius admitted. "But we're the Marauders; we have to at least _try_ to stay out of detention."

"Professor Slughorn will see you tomorrow night at six o'clock. Don't be late; he's already upset with you for missing his lesson today," McGonagall walked back to the teachers table shaking her head.

"Could be worse," James said bracingly. "Could have been Filch."

– **M –**

Detention was not fun. We had to clean out the First Years cauldrons, and, since it was their first year, they were covered in all sorts and took hours to scrub clean without magic. The only bright side was that while I distracted Professor Slughorn and Sirius talked to Remus, James was able to steal the ingredients we needed for the first Animagus potion.

"I'm going to go to the kitchens," I muttered, dragging myself out of my chair next to the fire in the Gryffindor Common Room after detention. "Want anything?"

"Yeah, sure, bring me anything," James waved a hand around and turned to look at Sirius.

"Same; just get anything," he agreed, not even opening his eyes.

I nodded and walked out of the portrait hole, Remus was revising with Frank since Lily wasn't talking to him after the prank on her boyfriend. Half way to the kitchens I cursed myself for not bringing James's Cloak as I heard Filch walking around the corner.

Without even thinking of hiding, I turned around and ran in the opposite direction, knocking over more than one suit of armour in my hurry. When I finally stopped to breathe I realized I was on the seventh floor corridor, stood opposite a portrait of Barnabas the Barmy trying to teach trolls ballet.

I groaned and paced the corridor as I tried decide whether to try going to the kitchens again or just go back to the Gryffindor Tower and call it a night. My stomach growled and I wished I was already at the kitchens.

Just then, I heard the sound of rocks scraping together and when I turned around there was a door on the previously empty wall. Gathering up my courage, I pushed open the door and gasped.

The room was the exact replica of Hogwarts kitchen, except that there was no House Elves running around and no food in any of the cupboards. Curiously, I closed my eyes and thought and the Gryffindor Common Room, when I opened my eyes the room looked just like the Common Room except that I was the only person in it.

"The others would love this," I muttered out loud to myself in wonder. "I wonder if it does books."

Before I'd even finished my sentence, a bookshelf appeared where there wasn't one in the Common Room and it was full of old books that looked like the ones Remus usually read.

Grinning wildly I left the room and ran back to the Tower, too excited to be worried about being caught out after curfew. Sirius, Remus and James were the only ones left in the Common Room when I got there and I figured I must have been gone longer than I thought.

"Peter! Where've you been?" Remus asked immediately when he saw me.

"And where's our food?" Sirius added, grinning as James rolled his eyes and muttered 'impossible' under his breath.

"You'll never guess what I just found!" I exclaimed, ignoring their questions and quickly telling them all about the room I'd found.

James and Sirius wanted to go check it out straight away, but Remus said it was too late to try sneaking out again and that he was tired. Remus went ahead of us up to bed and James clapped me on the back happily.

"Looks like we've found a place for our Animagus training," he said, following Remus up to bed.

"Well done, Pete," Sirius winked and continued up the stairs.

I stopped on the bottom of the stairs for a moment, basking in my friends' approval and, for once, feeling like I had a real place in the Marauders...like I actually belonged there.


	6. Chapter 6

**TCWWBCC**

**Chapter 5: Daring Mistakes**

Peter's POV

It was a week before we got the chance to show Remus the room I'd found and, just like I'd predicted, he was amazed about the amount of books available if he just thought of one.

It was difficult finding ways to sneak off to the Animagi training room, but since the first thing that needed doing was a potion, I was told to stay behind and distract Remus. It was a good idea because I couldn't get close to a potion without it going wrong.

"You'll regret sleeping through these lessons when we take the OWLS," Remus lectured as he woke us all up once the History of Magic lesson had ended. "What would you do if I didn't let you copy my notes?"

"We'd fail," Sirius yawned, stretching and cracking a few bones in his spine. "And we all know you don't want that."

Remus huffed in annoyance but didn't argue; he knew just as well as we did that he wouldn't let any of us fail if he could help it. It was only with his help that I'd managed to get this far.

"Mr Perkins," Mr Binns droning voice called out as we walked past his desk. Confused as to which one of us he was calling, all for of us stopped. He turned to gaze at James and gestured with a see through hand towards his desk.

"It's Potter, sir," James told him, turning to look at the desk.

"I do believe you collect those," He told us, his voice lulling me into a sleep even while he wasn't talking about Goblin wars. James picked up a Chocolate Frog card off of Mr Binns desk and looked at the History teacher in confusion.

"Thank you sir," he said, turning the card slightly so that we could see a picture of Circe on the card. "Is that everything?"

"Hmm," Mr Binns looked back up at James. "Yes, yes, Mr Perkins you can go."

James nodded and left the room while we trailed behind him. Sirius plucked the card out of James's hand as we walked our normal path down to the lake.

"Why'd he choose to give it to you?" I asked James curiously.

"Maybe Minnie told him how good you are at Transfiguration," Remus suggested, moving out of the way as James and Sirius got into a mini fight when Sirius refused to give the card back.

"Does that mean I can turn Sirius into a pig?" James laughed, holding up the card triumphantly and pushing Sirius over.

"Is there really that much left to change?" Remus joked, dodging a hit from Sirius.

"I'm so hard done by," Sirius moaned before pouncing on James so that they both landed in a pile on the floor.

"Oh yeah," I snickered, stepping over them. "I can tell you're in so much pain."

"He's going to be," James grunted, pushing Sirius off of him and getting to his feet before continuing down to the lake.

"He loves me really," Sirius assured us as he slung his arm across my shoulders and ruffled my hair.

We sat down around a tree and settled down. Remus began reading his Hogwarts: A History book, while Sirius, James and I started a game of Exploding Snap. I was just about to put my card down when we heard someone calling James's name.

"Well, I'm certainly popular today," James looked up from our game to see a nervous looking Ravenclaw boy.

"You, erm, dropped this," he held out his hand so that we could see James's Chocolate Frog card. "I thought you might want it back."

"Keep it," James waved his Exploding Snap cards at him. "I already have two of her."

"Really?" The boy grinned. "Thanks!"

Once the Ravenclaw had gone James turned to Remus. "Ok, so who was he?"

"Why do you expect me to know?" Remus asked, refusing to look up from his book.

"Because you seem to know everyone," I pointed out.

"His name is Quirinus Quirrell," Remus sighed. "He's in my class for Ancient Runes."

"Quirinus Quirrell," Sirius repeated. "Poor kid."

James snorted. "You can't talk."

"Hey! Sirius is a great name!" Sirius defended, crossing his arms and pouting.

"Seriously?" Remus grinned as we all groaned. "Sorry, it just had to be done."

There was silence for a few moments before we were distracted by cheers coming from the direction of the Whomping Willow. Without having to check with each other, we all got up and walked in the direction of the Willow until we came to a large crowd.

"What's going on?" Remus asked a Fourth Year Hufflepuff. His voice had a small note of panic in it, but I think only someone who knew him would have been able to tell. Remus always got nervous when people talked about the Whomping Willow because that was where the tunnel that led to the Shrieking Shack was.

"Davey Gudgeon is trying to touch the trunk of the Willow," the Hufflepuff girl said excitedly. "He keeps getting quite close."  
Remus paled and pushed his way to the front of the crowd, the rest of us following behind. Davey dodged the sweeping branches and had to jump back a few steps to avoid getting hit by a quick branch that nearly got him in the arm.

"Someone needs to get McGonagall," Sirius muttered.

As Marauders, we knew how to be daring and get in trouble, but we also knew that if Davey succeeded and managed to touch the Willow's truck, there was a possibility that he'd hit it in the place needed to freeze the tree. If that happened, everyone would find out about the secret tunnel and Remus could get discovered.

Luckily, or unluckily depending on who you were, Davey dodged a second too late as a branch lashed out and hit him across the face. A few of his friends dragged him out of the way of any more branches and one of them ran ahead to warn Madame Pomfrey that she was about to get a new patient. There was blood pouring down Davey's face; the branch had hit him incredibly close to his right eye.

That night at dinner, Professor Dumbledore told everyone in the Hall how disappointed he was with the students who cheered Davey on and didn't try to help. He took fifty points off of Hufflepuff and used his guilt inducing voice to tell us how he hoped nothing like that would ever happen again.

Davey was going to be fine, according to his friends he'd come close to losing an eye, but that was most likely just an exaggeration. Though, as James pointed out, if it kept other people from trying the same thing then the rumour would be a good thing.


	7. Chapter 7

**TCWWBCC**

**Chapter 6: Family Ties**

Peter's POV

It was finally the weekend and I could safely say that I wasn't the only Marauder glad to have two days of relaxing. Even Remus seemed happy once the last lesson on Friday was over.

Our peace was unfortunately ruined on the Saturday morning when two owls flew over to Sirius and dropped a couple of letters onto his plate. One of them was in a black envelope and had the Black family seal stamped into the wax and the other was in a simple white envelope that looked like it had come from a Muggle shop.

"Which are you going to open first?" James asked, lounging back on the bench. It was a pointless question; we all knew that he'd open the white letter first and try his hardest to ignore any letter coming from his family like the black letter so clearly was.

Sirius shot James a look that told us just what he thought of that question and then ripped the white envelope open, unfolding a piece of Muggle paper and quickly reading its contents as a grin stretched its way across his face.

"Andromeda's had a baby girl!" He exclaimed happily. "She's called Nymphadora."

"Congratulations," Remus clapped Sirius on the shoulder. "You have another cousin that you can like now."

"I didn't even know she was pregnant," James mentioned.

Sirius frowned and glared at the black letter that was still on his plate. "Neither did I. I haven't heard anything from her since she was disinherited and left Hogwarts."

"What sort of name is Nymphadora?" I demanded, bewildered. "Why do pure-bloods always have such weird names?"

"Hey!" James protested. "James is a perfectly normal name."

"He's got a point though," Sirius snorted. "My family seems to delight in choosing bizarre names."

I went back to eating my breakfast as Sirius and James began naming every weird name they could; most of them were names of a member of Sirius's family. Remus rolled his eyes and opened the paper that had been delivered to him.

A few minuets later Remus snorted and stared at the paper disdainfully. We all looked up at him to see what was wrong and he waved a hand at an article before reading it out to us.

"_Janus Thickey has been declared dead by his family this morning_," Remus read. "_His wife told The Prophet how she had walked into the bedroom to find the bed still neatly made and a note on the bedside table that read "oh no a Lethifold's got me I'm suffocating,". After reading this chilling note, Mrs Thickey immediately called in the Aurors_."

"What's funny about that?" I asked cautiously.

"Because even if it was possible to be eaten by a Lethifold," Remus began with his lecturing voice. "Which, by the way, it's not, he wouln't have had time to write a note and there would have been some sign of a struggle."

"What do you think happened?" Sirius challenged, a glint in his eye.

"I don't know," Remus shrugged. "Maybe he ran away with a college or something."

"I bet his wife killed him," Sirius declared, turning to look at James an I. "What about you two?"

"The wife seems upset," James said thoughtfully. "I think she's innocent, if not a bit ditzy. I bet he left her and changed country."

"What about you, Pete?" Sirius grinned at me.

"The butler did it?" I suggested weakly, earning a snort off of Remus; the only one who understood.

"What are we betting?" James rubbed his hands together and ignoring my comment.

Remus and I looked at each other, both of us equally alarmed. "We didn't know we were actually betting anything!" Remus exclaimed while I nodded wildly.

"Too late!" James cackled. "What happens if we bet right?"

"Whoever gets it right gets to decide a dare for the other three," Sirius claimed.

"What if none of us get it right?" James countered, excepting the idea easily.

"Then Lily gets to decide the dare," Sirius said with an evil smile as we all gulped. We all knew that Lily would show no mercy if we told her that she got to choose a dare for us and we'd be forced to do it.

"We might never find out who's right!" Remus protested. "Then what?"

"Then we never find out," James shrugged. "The only thing that matters is if we do find out. Deal?"

"Deal," Sirius grinned.

"Deal," Remus and I echoed, hoping that we would never find out.

Our hopes were unmercifully crushed when the next morning another article was in the paper announcing that Janus Thickey had been found living with the landlady of The Green Dragon; a pub five miles away from his home.

"I was almost right," Remus announced doubtfully.

"But you weren't completely right," James grumbled, upset that his theory had been proved wrong.

"Guess this means we're asking Lily," Sirius said, still sounding cheery.

James brightened up once he knew we were going to speak Lily and was all of a sudden very eager to ask for our dare, he even offered to go ask alone. Remus and I agreed that he could go alone and even do the dare alone if he wanted to, but Sirius disagreed and dragged us towards where Lily was sitting with Steven.

Remus explained what we wanted after Lily had put a silencing spell on James and Sirius. She had a mischievous smile that a Marauder would be proud of as she thought about a dare for us and then proceeded to tell us it.


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Alright, this is the first chapter written by me, Mistylight. I know my writing can't compare to CC's but I try my best ****. Constructive criticism is welcome, so R&R please!**

Peter's POV

Lily's wicked smirk remained. "I dare you, all four of you, to…"

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The next two days found all four Marauders, with varying degrees of enthusiasm and reluctance, dressed as fairy princesses. Sirius and James, as expected, were throwing themselves into the act. Remus and I, however, were not as enthusiastic. Not only did we have to dress up in those ridiculous costumes, we also had to loudly and publicly argue that each of us was the real fairy princess. To top it off, we had to yell, every five minutes, even during classes, "I AM THE REAL FAIRY PRINCESS! DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY THE OTHERS' LIES!"

Minnie had docked twenty points off Gryffindor, causing Lily to look rather chagrined. Pupils were taking pictures and laughing, and Professor Dumbledore seemed rather amused. When the time finally came to remove our costumes, Remus and I released twin sighs of relief. Sitting on James' bed, James and Sirius whooped, exchanging a high-five.

"That… was the funniest thing EVER!' James yelled, choking with laughter. Next to him, Sirius pounded him on the back, agreeing, "Yes. Simply AMAZING! I don't believe we never thought of that!"

"Sometimes, Peter, I wonder about our friends' minds. Though brilliant, they seem rather… off, I must say." Remus remarked.

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I shovelled a spoonful of cereal into my mouth, before grabbing a chocolate donut. A few weeks had passed since the "fairy princess incident" and people were still talking about it and congratulating us. I let myself bask in their praises, wondering if this was how my fellow marauders felt when someone complimented them.

"HOUSE ELVES TOTALLY DESERVE FREEDOM! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU WOULD THINK OTHERWISE! YOU KNOW WHAT? YOU CAN GO TAKE YOUR PREJUDICES TO ANOTHER GIRL! I'M SICK OF YOU!" a familiar, feminine voice screamed. I turned my head to see Lily exploding in Steven's face.

"Ministry of Magic defeated an appeal against house elf slavery. Steven thinks house elves are slaves. Lily, to put it lightly, disagrees." Remus informed me. I nodded gratefully, glad to know why my eardrums were bursting.

As I continued to watch the scene, James sidled in beside Lily, adding in, "I agree with Lily. House elves deserve rights like any and every other creature." Lily seemed to appreciate his support, and was about to thank him, when Snivellus strode up, his greasy hair glinting. "Is that so, Potter? I'm quite sure the Potter household has a house elf." He put in coldy.

"Is that so?" Lily whipped around to face James, her green eyes narrowed. "Winky likes working for us!" James protested weakly. Lily stomped away, her fiery hair bouncing as she threw a last insult over her shoulder.

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Nearly a month had passed, and Lily was still mad at James. He would ask for her forgiveness every day, and she would shoot it down with a cold remark and an insult. James' normally cheerful mood was dipping each day, and for once, there were no pranks pulled and so cheerful skipping around. We Marauders tried our best to cheer him up, but he seemed determined to be gloomy until Lily forgave him. We still practised becoming Animagi in the room I found, but James would often sulk the entire time. Remus and I tried to talk to him, and Sirius would do the silliest things to cheer him up, but they had seemingly no effect.

Eventually, we gave up, deciding to wait for Lily to forgive James.

.


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Thank you all very much for your support, You guys somehow managed to remain satisfied even though the quality of my work is scrappy to say the least. Enjoy!**

Peter's POV

"You guys are doing WHAT?" Remus' pale golden eyes stared at all three of us. I had accidentally let slip about our Animagi training to Remus, who was stubborn that we go through no trouble on his behalf. James and Sirius were trying to convince him to allow us to continue so we could make his full moons easier.

"Accepting me is more than enough, Sirius. I don't need you to go through all this trouble for me!" Remus protested for the 26th time (I had eaten a jellybean for every time he had protested).

Eventually, after the 42nd protest, Remus caved in like we always knew he would. James and Sirius exchanged a triumphant glance before whooping loudly and exchanging a high-five. Remus threw his hands up in defeat, muttering, "Fine, I'll help you in it. From what you've told me, your're pretty deep in already…"

Remus would help us do our research on how to quickly become an animagus. We had already figured out our Animagi forms. James was a stag, Sirius was a dog, and I was a rat. I was a little disappointed at first, but I realised it would be useful for sneaking in and out of places, and it would make me an excellent lookout.

Exams were just around the corner, and we had abandoned our Animagi training to revise. I would probably get bad grades, but with Remus helping me, at least I knew I wouldn't fail.

I was trying to read three textbooks at once, and I was failing. Miserably.

"Here Peter, focus on one textbook at a time. We have Potions first, so put down Charms and Transfiguration." Remus advised gently.

I nodded obediently and did as he said. Good old Remus was always there for me. He was willing to help me with homework and revision, even when he could be having fun with the other two Marauders. He was the best friend anyone could wish for.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I didn't expect to be so busy :/. CatchingCraziness, I'm sorry too. I adopted this story and then practically abandoned it… For months… **

Peter's POV

I had gotten acceptable results! I had gotten a poor in Potions, but I had somehow managed to get an Exceeds Expectations in Charms.

But that wasn't the only good thing. Sirius had begun transforming partially, sometimes getting a shaggy tail, sometimes canine ears. James, still depressed from Lily's rejection, hadn't achieved a thing. I had once sprouted claws!

Remus was, of course, undeniably proud of us. He exclaimed over our progress, while James sat sulking in a corner.

But a couple of days later, James' bad mood dissipated. He had come charging into the dorm, yelling, "LILY'S NOT MAD AT ME ANYMORE!", right after dinner.

Once he had gotten off his high, he elaborated.

The three of us had left early to the dorm, leaving James SulkyPants in the Great Hall. When he was eating, his house elf, Winky, had apparated in-

"Wait, I thought Hogwarts was anti-apparition?" I asked, curious.

"House elf magic is different from normal magic, Pete." Remus explained.

"Oh"

-right when he was eating his pudding. She presented him with a box of chocolates from his mother, and James had, per usual, given her a few. This had not gone unnoticed by the Glorious Evans, and –blahblahblahblahblah-she had forgiven him.

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It had been a few days since the whole "forgiveness incident", and James was finally showing some progress with his Animagus form. He had grown a pair of antlers, and the soles of his feet had hardened into something resembling hooves.

I must say, it was rather amusing to see him stumbling round and knocking into stuff with his antlers. I had finally managed to squeeze out a worm like tail.

"I had no idea a rat's tail looked quite like that" Sirius had sniggered as I desperately tried to retract my tail.


End file.
